Device for deforming and removing crown caps



April 10, 1951 v. s. BELPEDIO ET AL DEVICE FOR DEIFORMING AND REMOVINGCROWN CAPS Filed Aug. 25. 1948 INVENTORS. VINCENT 5.E:E.LF'E.D1U ANDEEURBE I... EzARTUN ATTORN EY.

Patented Apr. 10, 1951 DEVICE FOR DEFORMING AND REMOVING CROWN CAPSVincent S. Belpedio, Fairfield, Conn., and George L. Barton, Tulsa,Okla.

Application August 23, 1948, Serial No. 45,764

5 Claims. l

The present invention relates to a device for removing and re-formingcrown bottle caps, and has for an object to provide a device adapted toreform a cap prior to its removal from the bottle by depressing thecentral portion of the cap Within the mouth of the bottle, so that thenon-compressed central portion of the cork sealing disk of the capinwardly of the compressed margin of the disk is downwardly andoutwardly displaced from its original sealing position. As a result ofthis operation the cap may be re-engaged upon the bottle simply bypressing it with the palm of the hand, and the sealing disk willeffectually seal the bottle, due to the fact that the displaced portionof the disk is sufiiciently compressible to be compressed into sealingrelation within the mouth of the bottle. Heretofore attempts have beenmade to reseal a bottle by re-forming the rim-gripping flange of the capas it is re-engaged with the bottle. This, however, merely resultssponding parts throughout the several figures of in again compressingthe compressed part of the sealing disk which formed the original seal,and as this part has usually lost its compressibility it cannot bedepended on to effectually seal the bottle, even though mechanical meansareemployed to firmly re-engage the cap with the bottle.

A further object is to provide a device which will function to removethe cap from the bottle after the re-forming operation. It isparticularly proposed to provide a lever having cam means which duringthe initial movement of the lever exerts a substantially verticalpressure on the center of the bottle cap to press it inwardly, withoutat the same time disengaging it from the bottle, and which upon afurther movement of the lever exerts a turning force upon the cap todisengage it from the bottle.

With the above and other objects in view, em-

trated exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, a bottle and cap being shown indot-and-dash lines engaged thereby.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, showing the device engaged with a bottle cappreparatory to re-forming the cap.

Fig. 5 is a similar view, showing the device operated to re-form thecap.

iii

I the invention.

Fig. 9 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 1'0 is a vertical sectional view,showing the device of Fig. 8 operated to re-form the cap.

Similar reference characters indicate correthe drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the device for removing and re-forming crownbottle caps, according to the illustrated exemplary embodiment of theinvention shown in Figs. 1 to 7 thereof have their forward edges l2 in avertical diametric plane of the body, and the other of which issubstantially midway between two opposed lugs. These lugs are flushed attheir outer surfaces with the cylindrical outer surface of the body andtheir inner surfaces are concentric thereto and to the axis of the bodyand at their lower ends are provided with inwardly extending lips I 3adapted to engage beneath the edge of the bottle cap, as will presentlymore fully appear, the upper surfaces Hi of these lips being inclined ata slight angle downwardly and outwardly.

A shoulder l5 of semi-circular form is formed upon the underside of thebody H] at the upper ends of the lugs l l and extends between theforward edges |2-l2 of the two opposed lugs, the corner edge of thisshoulder being concentric to the axis of the body l0 and inwardly of theinner surfaces of the lugs, for the purpose of. abutting the upperperipheral corner of the bottle cap A so as to position it centrallywithin the body, with the lower edge of the corrugated flange o-r skirtof the cap resting on the upper inclined surfaces l 4 of the lips !3 ininwardly spaced relation to the inner walls of the lugs I l, to thuspermit slight expansion of the rim as the top portion of the cap isre-formed, as will presently more fully appear. The shoulder [5 also hasthe function of positioning the device upon the cap with the inner edgesof the lips 13 of the lugs II outwardly spaced from the top capretaining bead B of the bottle, so that in removing the cap the lips areprevented from directly engaging the head of the bottle with theconsequent possibility of chipping or'breaking the bottle. The outwardlyinclined surfaces M of the lips l3 tend to centralizo the cap asdownward pressure is applied thereon and also facilitate the outwardflaring of the flange of the cap as pressure is applied to its centralportion, as will presently more fully appear.

At a point diametrically opposed to the intermediate lug l I there isprovided upon the underside of the body a boss [6 adapted to assist inpositioning the device upon the bottle cap, the the projection of thisboss being somewhat less than the depth of the shoulder l5, so that itwill not interfere with the free engagement and disengagement of thedevice with the bottle cap.

The body It is provided with a central cylindrical passage ll having anannular recess IB at its upper end, and in which there is engaged forvertical movement a plunger 19 having a flange 20 at its upper endadapted to engage within the recess l 8 upon downward movement of theplunger, a helical expansion spring 2i being engaged about the plungerbetween the flange 2d and the base of the recess Hi to normally pressthe plunger upwardly. The plunger is provided at its lower end with arounded surface 22, preferably spherical, adapted to engage the centralportion of the bottle cap at a point inwardly removed from the innerwall of the neck of the bottle, for a purpose presently to be more fullydescribed.

Upon the upper side of the body Ill thereare provided ears 2223 at eachside of the recess l8 and between which a lever 23 is pivotally mountedby means of a cross pin 24'. This lever is proided at its lower end witha projected cam surface 25-for engaging the upper end of the plunger l9and with flat surfaces 26 and 21 at each side thereof, the hat surface28 being nearer to the pivot pin 24 than the surface 21' and adapted inthe inoperative position of the device, as shown in Fig. l, to beengaged under spring pressureby the upper end of the plunger to retainthe position of the lever. The surface 2'! is adapted in the capremoving position of the lever, as shown in Fig. 6, to engage the upperend of the plunger during removal of the cap as will presently morefully appear.

A projecting anvil surface 28 is provided at the outer end or" the flatsurface 2'! for engaging the upper side of the body for the purpose ofremoving the bottle. cap, as will presently more fully appear.

The pivot pin 23 is substantially in line with the central vertical axisof the plunger l9 and the cam surface 25 is formed so that it engagessubstantially centrally with the upper end of the plunger in the fullyprojected position of the latter, the rise of the cam being such that asthe lever is turned in clockwise direction the plunger is depressed withthe line of force exerted between the pivot 24 and the rounded end 22 ofthe plunger being at all times in substantial vertical line with thevertical axis of the plunger.

It will be noted that in the engaged position of the device with thecap, as shown in Fig. l, the upper surface of the cap is supportedagainst the lower end of the plunger and the lips ii. of the two opposedlugs ll engage beneath the edge of the cap at opposed sides along adiametric line of the cap, so that the cap is thus supported at itslower edge to directly oppose a vertical pressure applied substantiallycentrally upon the upper side of the cap.

In operation, the device is engaged with the bottle cap, as shown inFig. 4, with the lips I 3 beneath the flange of the cap, the lever 23being turned in clockwise direction to depress the plunger 19 intoretaining engagement with the top of the cap. Thereupo-n the lever isfurther turned in clockwise direction, causing the cam projection 25 todepress the plunger l9 and reform the bottle cap by depressing itscentral portion, without any substantial further compression of thecompressed marginal portion of the cork sealing disk C where it engagesthe upper end of the bottle. The central non-compressed portion of thesealing disk is at the same time pressed downwardly within the neck ofthe bottle so that its lower surface is convexly bulged downward and islaterally expanded to enable it to form an effective seal with thebottle neck when it is reengaged therewith, as will hereinafter morefully appear.

As the cam projection 25 moves beyond the center line of the plunger itallows the plunger to rise out of engagement with the bottle cap, asshown in Fig. 6, so that as the anvil 28 comes into contact with theupper side of the body the cap is free to be engaged by the boss 16 atthe under side of the body. As the lever is then further pressed inclockwise direction the body 10 is turned to pry the cap off the bottle,the intermediate lug ll pulling upwardly while the opposed side of thecap is held by the boss 16. Thus the cap is easily removed withoutdistortion.

During the re-forming operation the flange of the bottle cap is slightlyflared outwardly from its original position, due to the depressing ofthe upper portion of the cap. This facilitates the removal of the capfrom the bottle but is not suflicient to prevent its firm reengagernentwith the bottle simply by pressing it into place with the palm of thehand.

Fig. '7 shows the manner in which the cap A is replaced, thecorrugations of the flange being firmly reengaged beneath the bead B ofthe bottle and the reformed sealing disk C engaging the inner wall ofthe bottle neck under compression produced at a point D which isinwardly removed from the original sealing point of the disk indicatedat E in Fig. 4.

In Figs. 8 to 10 there is illustrated a modified form of the inventionwhich is especially adapted to be constructed from sheet metal, and inwhich the plunger 9 as employed in the first embodiment is dispensedwith, the rounded cap depressin means being carried directly by theoperating lever. This embodiment comprises a body 30 preferably formedof sheet metal, of substantially semi-circular form in plan outline, andwhich is provided at its lower edge with three inwardly projecting lips3!, adapted to engage the lower edge of the bottle cap in asubstantially similar manner to the engagement of the lips iii of thefirst embodiment, the body beingprovided directly above each of the lipswith an indentation 32 adapted to engage the peripheral corner of thebottle cap to centralize it in a substantially similar manner to theengagement of the shoulder l5 of the first embodiment.

The body portion is provided with car portions 33-33 between which theoperating lever 34 is pivotally mounted by means of a pivot pin 35. Theoperating handle has formed upon it a balllike projection 36 adapted toengage the central portion of the cap to depress it upon downwardmovement of the handle, and adjacent the ball portion 36 there isprovided an anvil projection 3! adapted at the completion of thedepressing operation to engage the marginal portion of the cap, as shownin Fig. 10, whereupon further downward movement of the handle prys thecap from the bottle. It will be noted that in the fully depressedposition of the ball portion 36 its center is substantially in line withthe central aXis of the bottle cap, and to this end the axis of thepivot pin 35 is laterally ofiset from the central axis, the arrangementof the pivot pin with respect to the opposed lips 3! being such that asthe ball portion 36 engages the top of the cap the opposed lips aredrawn upwardly into engagement with the lower edge of the cap. As theball portion is depressed the component line of force is substantiallyin a vertical line.

We have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodimentsof the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be madetherein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for re-forming a flanged bottle cap, wherein the cap has anormally substantially fiat top and has a compressible sealing disk,

within it, a body, lip means rigidly carried by said body engageablebeneath the flange of the cap at diametrically opposite points thereofto support it against a substantially vertical force applied to its top,and forming means movably connected to said body engageablesubstantially with the center portion of the top of the cap and adaptedto have relative movement to depress said center portion.

2. A device for re-forming a flanged bottle cap, wherein the cap has anormally substantially flat top and has a compressible sealing diskWithin it, a body, lip means rigidly carried by said body engageablebeneath the flange of the cap at diametrically opposite points thereofto support it against a substantially vertical force applied to its top,forming means movably connected to said body engageable substantiallywith the center portion of the top of the cap and adapted to haverelative movement to depress said center portion, and abutment meansrigidly carried by said body arranged to engage the outer side of theflange of the cap to centralize said cap therein.

3. A device for re-forming and removing a flanged bottle cap, whereinsaid cap has a normally substantially fiat top and has a compressiblesealing disk within it, a body, lip means carried by said bodyengageable beneath the flange of the cap to support it against asubstantially vertical force applied to its top, a lever movablyconnected to said body, forming means adapted to be moved by said leverand engageable sub stantially with the center portion of the top of thecap adapted to have relative movement to said body to depress saidcenter portion, movement limiting means associated with said leveradapted at the completion of its cap forming movement to exert a turningforce on said body and said cap to remove said cap from the bottle.

4. A device for re-forming and removing a flange bottle cap, whereinsaid cap has a normally substantially flat top and has a compressiblesealing disk within it, a body, lip means carried by said bodyengageable beneath the flange of the cap to support it against asubstantially vertical force applied to its top, a lever movablyconnected to said body, forming means adapted to be moved by said leverand engageable substantially with the center portion of the top of thecap adapted to have relative movement to said body to depress saidcenter portion, said lever adapted at the completion of its cap formingmovement to engage said body to exert a turning force thereon to removethe capfrom the bottle.

5. A device for re-forming and removing a flanged bottle cap, whereinsaid cap has a normally substantially flat top and has a compressiblesealing disk within it, a body, lip means carried by said bodyengageable beneath the flange of the cap to support it against asubstantially vertical force applied to its top, a lever movablyconnected to said body, forming means adapted to be moved by said leverand engageable substantially with the center portion of the top of thecap adapted to have relative movement to depress said center portion,said lever adapted at the completion of its cap forming movement toengage the cap adjacent its periphery to exert a turning force thereonto remove it from the bottle.

VINCENT S. BELPEDIO. GEORGE L. BARTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Denmark Dec. 11, 1939

